Pennsylvania fugitive captured, ending two-week manhunt

PHILADELPHIA – A convicted murderer who escaped from a Pennsylvania jail was captured on Wednesday with the help of a heat-sensing aircraft and a police dog, ending an intense, two-week manhunt that unnerved residents in the Philadelphia suburbs, authorities said.

Tactical teams surrounded the fugitive, Danelo Cavalcante, at around 8am in a rural area about 50km west of Philadelphia.

As he tried to crawl away, a police dog subdued him and he was forcibly taken into custody, Pennsylvania State Police Lieutenant-Colonel George Bivens said.

Cavalcante, who was armed with a rifle that he had stolen from a garage, was taken into custody without further incident.

Lt-Col Bivens said he did not have the opportunity to use the firearm.

Cavalcante broke out of the Chester County Prison two weeks ago by climbing between two walls that formed a narrow corridor in the jail house yard and scrambling onto the roof, according to police.

“It’s never easy to find someone who doesn’t want to be found in a large area,” Lt-Col Bivens said in response to a question about the extended manhunt during a Wednesday news briefing.

Cavalcante escaped on Aug 31 while waiting to be transferred from the county lock-up to a state correctional institution to begin serving a life sentence handed down after his conviction for the brutal killing of a former girlfriend.

His capture began shortly after midnight on Wednesday when police responded to an alarm that went off at a nearby home.

About an hour later, a Drug Enforcement Administration aircraft flying overhead picked up a heat signal, and tactical units converged at that point.

After he was captured, about two dozen police officers in tactical gear posed for a group photo with Cavalcante standing in front with his arms pinned behind his back.

When asked about the photograph, Lt-Col Bivens said he was not bothered by it.

“We are proud of their work,” he said.